Innocent
by missxmad
Summary: As Tess waits for death, she has memories of a special day from her childhood.


"No, just go! Just fucking go," I yelled, pushing away the man I loved.

"Ellie-" Joel began quietly, turning to the young girl.

"I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't mean for this," Ellie apologized, taking a few steps towards me. I stared into her eyes for only a moment, then into Joel's.

"Get a move on," Joel said, backstepping. He then turned around and followed Ellie out of the building.

I watched them leave, a small smile on my face. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

...

I was fourteen years old. It was early to middle May and close to the end of my school year. It was Spring, and it sure felt like it. The grass was as green as it could get. The trees blossomed with small white flowers and green leaves. Flowers grew along the paths winding through my town. They seemed to get bigger every day that I had walked by towards my school. The flowers varied in color. It was like a never ending rainbow sprouting out of the ground.

This day had always stuck out in my memory. It was the day I had broken. Well, the afternoon I had broken. Being only a new teenager, I was innocent and naive. This was often mistaken for stupidity, which just possibly proved the stereotype of the stupid blonde. Blonde was originally my natural hair color, until that evening. It all happened that day...

I walked towards my school. The sun was shining and the flowers had all opened. The yellows and purples followed me down the dirt path. I was smiling much larger than I had on days before, and it was for absolutely no reason. Maybe it was just the feeling of that day.

I reached the school, my skin feeling warm from the sun. The skin right above my brand new red tennis shoes were a yellow-brown from the dirt. I wore a bright orange tank-top and a pair of denim short. Around my neck was a small gem necklace that my mother had given me only a hours before her car crash and instant death. That day was a sad day. I was only seven years old.

As I opened the doors, I was bombarded by a group of girls, all complimenting my new shoes and pulling me down the hallway. They pulled me into the girl's bathroom and we gossiped and complimented each other. We talked about boys, and I decided it was time to tell my best friends about my boyfriend.

"So, there's been this guy that I've been dating for about two months now..." I said quietly, twiddling my thumbs.

"You've been dating and you didn't tell us?" Francine, a bright, orange haired girl asked.

"How didn't we notice?!" Nicole, a little chubby girl exclaimed.

"We've been keeping it secret," I continued, giggling. The other joined in the giggles. "It's Johnny from Algebra class."

"Oh! He's so cute!" Greta, a tall basketball player screamed.

"I know!" I yelled.

We talked for awhile until the bell rang and we were forced to go to our first classes. My first class was Algebra, were I purposely sat next to Johnny. He made a face at me as I sat and moved his seat to sit next to Francine. I frowned.

During algebra, the lesson was something about the Quadratic Formula. I didn't care. The whole time I was thinking about Johnny and why he had left. But of course, the teacher, Mr. Sanders, interrupted those thoughts with asking me a question.

"Tess, recite me the Quadratic Formula," he said in his boring, old voice.

"Um, A squared plus C squared equals B times two?" I replied, already embarrassed of myself. The laughing from my classmates only enhanced that embarrassment.

As Algebra ended, I ran out of the classroom, my face flushed red. I ran to my next class. Almost the exact same thing happened in that class and the class after that. Finally, it was time for lunch. I walked over to sit by my friends, but they filled up all the seats with their backpacks and books.

"Hey guys, can I sit down?" I asked with a weak smile.

"No, you slut," Gretta snapped at me.

"What did you just call me?" I responded angrily.

"A slut. You slept with Johnny!"

"That's a lie! I never did that!"

"Then why is his sister going around saying that? She said she heard you two! 'Oh Johnny, it's so big! I want to love it!'"

My eyes widened. I would never do or say such a thing! Out of anger, I took my tray of food and poured it onto Gretta's head. She gasped and stood up, slapping me across the face.

"You little bitch!" I screamed, turning around and stomping away.

I took a glance back and saw Gretta talking, and crying, to the principal. She pointed at me and the first instinct I had was to run. The principal only watched me run away. I hid behind a garbage can and sat there, hoping no one would find me. After what seemed like hours, but ended up being only one class period, I came out from behind the garbage. I walked back into the cafeteria and sat down.

"Why would they be so mean to me? Why?" I mumbled to myself.

Suddenly, something tapped my shoulder. I turned around with watery eyes and saw Johnny. I smiled at him. He sat down next to me and glared.

"Hey, I hate you," he said blankly.

"Love you too-" I began before I heard him. "What?"

"You're ugly, stupid, and a slut. I hate you," he repeated.

I tilted my head back and laughed. "That's the funniest thing you've said!"

"It's not a joke," Johnny said, completely serious.

"What?" I questioned, confused.

"I'm breaking up with you. Right here, right now."

"What?"

He stood up. I followed him.

"Really, you're nothing but a stupid blonde slut. You really do fit the stereotype."

"B-but..."

"You want me to stay, don't you?" he said in a mocking tone. I scrunched my eyebrows and shoved him away.

"No, just go! Just fucking go," I said in a slightly angry, slightly sad tone.

As he walked away. I went back behind the garbage can. I was well hidden and a good enough place to cry.

I heard the final bell. I saw the shadows of people shuffle by. I waited until everyone left and pushed myself out of my hiding spot. I walked towards the front door slowly, wiping away my tears. Suddenly, I felt something pull my arms and something black fell over my head. I was being pulled somewhere, but I didn't know where. I tripped, and they just continued to drag me. Then, we stopped. I heard the sound of running water. We were in a bathroom.

Just then, I felt a sharp pain in my side. One of my captors had kicked me. The next pain was in my stomach, then my knees. Next came the pain in the head. After that, it wasn't kicking anymore, but punching and clawing. My captors were laughing, and I could recognize them. It was Johnny's sister and her senior friends. They would always laugh at me, so I knew their laughs well. But why were they beating my up?

Then, the pain stopped. The bag was removed from her head and light flushed into my eyes. There was a quick strike to my head and I had passed out.

When I awoke, I found myself in the boy's bathroom. I pushed myself up, feeling sharp stings and pains all over my body. My head ached. I wobbled out of the bathroom and out into the night. It must've been around nine pm by then. I walked down the dirt path back to my house. The flowers had closed, and they didn't look as pretty as before. The sky was filled with clouds, blocking out the stars.

As I had reached my house, my dad ran outside and grabbed me by my already injured arm and pulled my inside. He slapped me.

"Do you know what you did? Do you know what you did?!" he screamed into my face. I shook my head. "You fucking killed my son!"

"W-what?" I stuttered, my eyes starting to water again.

"He was on his way to get you after you didn't come home and he got in a car crash! He fucking died!"

"No!" I yelled, grabbing my head ans shaking it in denial. My dad pulled my hands off of my head and slapped me again and again and again. He added to my countless bruises from the day. I began to cry and he finally stopped.

"Now, get out. Get out of here right now and never come back."

That's exactly what I did. I took all my money and my brother's money and left. I went to the salon and dyed my hair brown so it would be harder to recognize me. With just doing that, I looked completely different.

I left my town behind, making sure to flip it off on my way out. I was heading towards Boston, the big city I had always wanted to live in. And when I got there, I wasn't going to be some stupid, blonde, weak girl. I was going to be smart, strong woman. I wasn't going to be my old self. Never again.

...

I turned around, hearing the voices of the soldiers.

"I know you're in there! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up" a soldier yelled through the closed door.

I pulled my gun up, pointing it at the door and taking a few steps back. The door smashed open, and I shot. One dead. I shot again, this time at random, but hearing a pain-filled screech. Two dead. There was a pain in my chest and I fell to the ground. I'm _dead._

* * *

**A/N** Hey, I hoped you liked this one-shot about Tess. Since there is barely anything known about her background, I decided to add some. Again, I hoped you enjoyed this one-shot.

-missxmad


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